CHAPTER EIGHT: The Price of Wanting You17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN5eSwyEZC5
(Matteo’s POV)
He didn’t touch another client that week.
Not a single one.
He rescheduled them all. Blocked off hours. Told his assistant he was resting.
But Matteo wasn’t resting.
He was watching her sleep.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNroaQjEkA2
Cooking for her.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8DO7CbIpwt
Washing her wine glass in his sink and folding her cardigan when she left it on the couch.
He told himself it was temporary.
That this quiet intimacy was just borrowed time.
But every hour she stayed…17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7PDVjAH7KM
he wanted her for a lifetime.
Then the knock came.
Firm. Impatient.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRrauKxNudn
Familiar.
Matteo opened the door—shirt half-buttoned, still tasting her goodbye kiss from that morning.
And there she was.
Evangeline.
Long black hair. Killer heels. Blood-red lips.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6sHXtEjf0W
The woman who once called his bed her throne.
“Matteo,” she purred, leaning against the frame like she owned his air.
He didn’t flinch. “Why are you here?”
“You forgot who taught you how to touch women, darling?” she smiled darkly. “I built this version of you. I own it.”
“I’m not yours anymore.”
“You never stopped being mine.”17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkstJMOb1e6
She stepped in uninvited.
Matteo didn’t stop her, but his hands curled into fists.
“What do you want?”
Evangeline ran a sharp finger down the glass table, looking around.
“Who is she?”
He froze.
“I smelled her,” she said, grin widening. “She’s been here. In your sheets. In your mouth.”
Silence.
“You fell, didn’t you?” she laughed, low and cruel. “You stupid, soft idiot. You fell for one of them.”
“She’s not like the others.”
“Oh, Matteo…”17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTy0MRCkjth
Her voice dropped.
“You know what happens when you choose someone.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnYw06qieYF
They take her. They break her.”
He moved before she could blink.
Shoved her against the wall—not with lust, but rage.
“Don’t touch her. Don’t even say her name.”
Evangeline only smirked.
“She’s yours now. Fine.”17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX4xglQpQGt
Then her voice turned cold.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvKIyBGK5Vr
“But don’t think the people you’ve crossed will stay quiet.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW3Pwal5n8C
You want to play house, Matteo?17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8LYB6yFuzL
Then be ready to bury it when they come.”
She left. Just like that.
But her words stayed.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUZZ7UbpSQC
Like acid on his skin.
That night, when she texted him “goodnight” with a little heart emoji…17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzjnWSfi0L8
He stared at it for a long time.
Because loving her was no longer a secret.
Now, it was a risk.
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